Quantitative & Qualitative Research Methods: Study Designs & Uses

Introduction

Research methods are classified as qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods. The quantitative research method involves the uses of statistical information like population size, tests, time limits, and determining study variables (Ghisletta & Aichele, 2017). Some of the study designs used in the quantitative research method include casual comparative, quasi-experiment, true experimentation, pre-test to post-test, and data correlational. The qualitative research method involves the analysis of the contents of various materials relating to the study. Some of the designs used in the qualitative research method include case studies, phenomenology, content analysis, observation, focus groups, theoretical approaches, discourse analysis, ethnographic groups, action groups, narrative, and interviews. The mixed research method is the application of both qualitative and quantitative study designs. Articles were selected for analysis because they provided comprehensive evidence-based information that helps in performing successful research. Also, the article identifies human experiences and interventions for addressing issues related to diabetes.

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Articles that Use Quantitative Research Methods

Ghisletta, P., & Aichele, S. (2017). Quantitative methods in psychological aging research: a mini-review. Gerontology, 63(6), 529-537.

This article was selected because it offers novel information obtained through quantitative research on aging. In this mini-reviewed article, the researchers took a substantive role in determining the changes that occur during psychological research. Many clinical and academic researchers are familiar with the techniques employed in assessing psychological changes in aging research due to the presence of different quantitative methods. Despite being established, the study designs applied in this article are not adequately conducting successful psychological aging research because of nonlinearity and incompleteness.

Research involving human aging is normally longitudinal. From the analysis of the article, it is clear that repeated assessment of study designs offer significant benefits in quantitative research activities. The incomplete population is the main problem that affects results obtained from quantitative research due to participant attrition with time due to limiting factors like dropout and death (Ghisletta & Aichele, 2017). In this case, the participants become less representative of the actual target population in the research due to incomplete data and inefficient analysis. In this mini-review, gerontological research depends on small sample populations and constructs assessed through the use of variables. Also, the variables are based on examination of asymmetric distributions like difficulty in daily living and the number of strokes. Other quantitative study designs applied in the article include data, correlation, pre-test, post-test, and distribution (Ghisletta & Aichele, 2017). Non-linear and mixed-effects models were employed in analysis data based on the utilization of various study designs. Some doubts have been encountered in assessing the impacts of socio-cultural factors in psychological aging research.

The increase in the number of research to assess the nature of psychological aging has necessitated for determination of how socio-demographic factors, lifestyle, and health-related variables affect the aging process (Ghisletta & Aichele, 2017). In this mini-review article, the emphasis is based on recent statistical advances that benefit researchers during psychological aging studies. The objective of this peer-reviewed article is to describe psychological changes that occur during the aging process and their potential health impacts. This mini-reviewed article has been applied by various clinical and academic researchers to evaluate differences between complex and basic psychological processes like personality. Some of the basic psychological changes that occur during aging include emotions, cognitive understanding, and personality

Poon, F., Martyres, R., Denahy, A., & Varigos, G. (2018). Improving patient safety: The impact of an outpatients' electronic handover system in a tertiary dermatology department. Australasian Journal of Dermatology, 59(3), e183-e188.

This article identifies practical interventions for improving patient safety. Appropriate clinical handover practices are recognized worldwide for enhancing patient safety in the healthcare setting. The electronic handover system is significant in promoting patient safety. This article has been applied by a large number of clinicians/nurses working in the dermatology department. Electronic medical records (EMRs) are used in improving the quality of healthcare, ensure a streamlined workflow, and attain patient safety; therefore, ensuring efficacy (Poon, Martyres, Denahy, & Varigos, 2018). An electronic handover system is a typical EMRs used for assessing clinical data of outpatients in the dermatology department. Effective communication is identified in the article as an appropriate intervention during clinical handovers. EMRs are a clinical tool that has been appropriately researched for more than ten years with an emphasis on effective communication as a vital strategy in improving patient safety. The normal EMRs do not allow clinicians to log, track, and record follow-up data during handovers; therefore, establishing the outpatient EHS helps in boosting the quality of health care services delivered to all clients.

Australian public hospitals and clinics have more than 42 million service episodes for outpatient clients (Poon et al., 2018). In this case, specialist's outpatient clients were over 16 million (Poon et al., 2018). During clinical rotations, outpatient specialists to face a lot of communication challenges. The communication barriers encountered during service delivery interfere with appropriate clinical handovers; therefore, affecting patient safety. Correlational, data, variables, and quasi-experimentation are the main study designs employed in the article to determine how the electronic handover system (EHS) leads to effective communication in clinical practices(Poon et al., 2018). Communication barriers and incomplete data were the main limitations of the study. Incomplete data affects clinical handovers; therefore, interfering with patient safety and satisfaction.

The article is different from other materials in the same field because it offers novel information on how effective communication ensures effective clinical handovers; therefore, attaining patient safety within hospitals' premises. The research findings from this article are vital in motivating staff towards providing patient-centered services. Also, the patient care interventions in these sources fill a gap in literature; especially in promoting quality patient care services in Australia and Asian countries. The article is universal because its research findings are applied in two continental regions.

Articles that Use Qualitative Methods

Hennink, M. M., Kaiser, B. N., Sekar, S., Griswold, E. P., & Ali, M. K. (2017). How are qualitative methods used in diabetes research? A 30-year Systematic Review. 12(2): 200-219.

The analysis of this article offers comprehensive information on how diabetes affects many people in the United States of America and other developed countries. This article was selected for review because it involves the use of a qualitative research method in presenting significant study information. Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a disabling, costly, and deadly disease with an increasing prevalence worldwide (Hennink, Kaiser, Sekar, Griswold, & Ali, 2017). Also, the article aggregates and describes a landscape of studies that have employed qualitative methods in studying diabetes, its related complications, and appropriate interventions for prevention and control in the population. According to Hennink et al. (2017), diabetes is also a chronic and multifactorial disease, whereby genetic, economic, lifestyle, social, and psychological factors are contributing to its development among many people globally.

In the article, various qualitative research designs were used to determine the impacts of diabetes in a population. Cognitive interviewing and focus groups were applied in developing the Diabetes Symptom Self-Care Inventory device for monitoring patients. Also, through formative study, interviews were employed in developing an appropriate cultural lifestyle program for reducing the prevalence of diabetes in the United States and other parts of the world. According to Hennink et al. (2017), interviews help in understanding the context and nature of epidemiologic results of subjects recruited in the research. Also, interviews enable researchers to explore the attitudes of participants on the intervention established for reducing the prevalence of diabetes in their geographical areas. Community-based action research is also used in the article to indicate substantive involvement of the society members implementing an appropriate intervention that can help in reducing the cases of diabetes in the United States and other developed countries (Hennink et al., 2017). In this article, study reporting collaboration is established among community health workers, farmworkers, and academic elites. The focus groups were used in determining appropriate interventions for minimizing the negative impacts of diabetes in the community. According to Hennink et al. (2017), the content analysis contributes to the identification of effective nursing interventions for improving the lifestyles of people with diabetes and reducing the mortality rates.

The article has been applied in various biomedical research activities to determine the prevalence and incidence of diabetes among participants of different demographic groups. In this case, more than 500 published articles have incorporated qualitative methods in research over the past 30 years (Hennink et al., 2017). Also, the article has been used by biomedical researchers to identify the relationship between socio-cultural factors and increases diabetes cases in most parts of the world, particularly the developing and underdeveloped countries.

Johnson, M., O'Hara, R., Hirst, E., Weyman, A., Turner, J., Mason, S., & Siriwardena, A. N. (2017). Multiple triangulation and collaborative research using qualitative methods to explore decision making in pre-hospital emergency care. BMC medical research methodology, 17(1), 11.

This article was selected for analysis in the research because it provides cutting edge information for information on aging research. Ethnographic was used in the article to determine how cultural practices affect the lifestyles and health status of aged people in England. The ethnographic design focuses on the lifestyles of different people and their cultures. Also, cultural practices and beliefs affect decision-making processes in the hospital setting. Other qualitative research methods employed in this article include article review, observation, and use of digital diaries, interviews, workshops, and focus groups. The use of multiple qualitative study designs was intended to ensure a multi-faceted and thorough examination of healthcare issues that might not have been gained by employing a single approach.

This article offers some vital roles performed by the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom. NHS is comprised of different 'Trusts' that manage primary, hospital, ambulance, and mental care services in the United Kingdom (Johnson et al. 2017). According to Johnson et al. (2017), Ambulance Trusts in the United Kingdom provide emergency care services to patients under critical conditions. The decisions made by paramedics whi...